White Hot Stamper

QueenA Night at the Opera

This stunning copy of Queen's fourth studio album boasts Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on the first side and an outstanding Double Plus (A++) side two

The sound is HUGE with WHOMP like nothing you have ever heard on this album - finally, the code has been cracked

Bohemian Rhapsody is killer here (if you've got the big speaker system to play it, and even if you don't)

5 stars: "But the appeal of A Night at the Opera is in its detailed, meticulous productions. It's prog rock with a sense of humor as well as dynamics, and Queen never bettered their approach anywhere else."

White Hot Stamper

FreeFire and Water

An incredible copy of the band's third studio album with Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it on both sides - reasonably quiet vinyl for this title too

Stunning Live-in-the-Studio Rock Sound that must be heard to be believed - All Right Now sounds out of this world here

The recording sounds more alive than 99 out of 100 rock records we've played, and we've played the best sounding rock records ever made

Top 100 and 4 1/2 stars: "From Paul Kossoff's exquisite and tasteful guitar work, to Paul Rodgers' soulful vocals, this was a group that was easily worthy of the mantle worn by Cream, Blind Faith, or Derek & the Dominos."

Super Hot Stamper

FreeFire and Water

You'll find outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides of this wonderful copy of the band's third release - reasonably quiet vinyl for this title too

Rich, spacious and lively, with an open, extended top end - this is the sound you want from Free

The recording sounds more alive than 99 out of 100 rock records we've played, and we've played the best sounding rock records ever made

Top 100 and 4 1/2 stars: "From Paul Kossoff's exquisite and tasteful guitar work, to Paul Rodgers' soulful vocals, this was a group that was easily worthy of the mantle worn by Cream, Blind Faith, or Derek & the Dominos."

White Hot Stamper

JourneyEvolution

(Item #: journevolu_1903_1906)Our Price:$199.99

An insanely good sounding copy with Triple Plus (A+++) sound on the first side and Double Plus (A++) - exceptionally quiet vinyl too

Three distinctive qualities of vintage analog recordings - richness, sweetness and freedom from artificiality - are most clearly heard on a Big Production Rock Record like Evolution in the loudest, densest, most climactic choruses of the songs, and this side one delivers that size and power like no copy you've ever heard

"Journey could seemingly do no wrong. Evolution quickly became the band's biggest-selling album, and Perry and co. soon embarked on yet another mammoth tour, which set many an attendance record, and set the stage for even greater triumph with 1980's Departure."

Super Hot Stamper

QueenQueen

With a seriously good Double Plus (A++) side two and a side one that's close to it, this vintage UK pressing has the analog magic in its grooves - exceptionally quiet vinyl too

Both sides here are big, full-bodied, clear and spacious with a nice bottom end and plenty of rock energy

"Almost every one of Queen's signatures are already present, from Freddie Mercury's operatic harmonies to Brian May's rich, orchestral guitar overdubs and the suite-like structures of "Great King Rat"... It showcases the band in all their ornate splendor yet it's strangely lean and hard, revealing just how good the band was in their early days as a hard rock band."

Super Hot Stamper

The CarsCandy-O

We guarantee this is some of the best sound you'll ever hear on ANY Cars album - Roy Thomas Baker's production makes this one jump out of the speakers like few recordings we've ever heard (and not many of them are from 1979, that's for damn sure)

4 1/2 stars: "As it stands, it may be one of the best second albums ever made, full of great songs, inspired performances, and sporting a still-perfect sound. If this had been the Cars' debut album, people might consider it a classic. Coming after The Cars, it has to be rated a little lower, but not by much."

(Item #: free_firea_myth)Free’s Third Album on the Original British Island Pink Label — Wow!

Found one at a local record store a while back. It was the first one I’d ever seen in nice enough condition to buy. Checking the dead wax was a bit of a shock though. Guess where it was mastered. Right here in the good old U S of A. In fact, at one of the worst mastering houses of all time: Bell Sound in New York.

Triple Plus (A+++) on side one and nearly that on side two (A++ to A+++) make this the best copy to ever hit the site. The sound is HUGE with WHOMP like nothing you have ever heard on this album - finally, the code has been cracked.

Murky, opaque and compressed: yes, we can agree it has never been an especially good sounding record on anything but the most difficult to find UK pressings, but does it deserve this kind of mastering disrespect? Isn't the idea to try and FIX what is wrong, rather than to make it worse? At collector prices no less. Don't waste your money.

There is a tendency in the recording to be a little "hot" tonally on the vocals and snare. The better copies like this one keep it under control, with the lesser copies getting much too lean and gritty to play loudly. What good is a raver like Fat Bottomed Girls if you can't turn it up and really rock out with it?

This Minty Elektra LP has two OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD sides! TRIPLE PLUS/TRIPLE PLUS! As far as we know, this is the only New Wave rock record with DEMO DISC sound ever made. We’re talking huge amounts of dynamic energy, tons of bass, a luscious midrange, all topped with a sweetly extended high end. I always knew there were superb sounding copies of this album, but I honestly had no idea they any could sound like this. There is only one copy that earned our coveted Triple Plus designation for both sides, and this is it. As Good As It Gets.

(Item #: cars_cars_choruses)Another in the long list of recordings that really comes alive when you Turn Up Your Volume.

The hottest of the Hot Stampers did one easily recognizable thing better than the Also-Rans, and it was apparent pretty much from the get-go. The multi-multi-multi-tracked Power Pop Choruses on the best copies don't strain (a very common problem), they are bigger and more powerful, they stretch from wall to wall, and the voices that make them up are separated much more than on other copies.

(Item #: cars_overview)
The first two Cars albums were both in The Better Records Rock and Pop Top 100 at one time, with good reason: they're superb recordings. The Cars have been in "heavy rotation" on my system since their albums came out in the late '70s. We started doing shootouts for both right around 2006 or 2007, and they continue to be a regular feature of our Rock Hot Stamper section, not to mention some of the most fun shootouts we do in any given week.

Before then had you ever read a word in any audiophile or record collecting publication about how amazing the originals can sound? Of course not. Most of the audiophile types writing for the stereo rags wouldn't know a good record from a hole in the ground.